Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Brady Pallante no longer a greyshirt

Naples (FL) Barron Collier defensive tackle Brady Pallante

Naples (FL) Barron Collier defensive tackle Brady Pallante, who committed as a greyshirt player in February, is now a full-fledged member of the 2014 recruiting class. A greyshirt would have meant that he would graduate from high school in 2014, pay his own way to school in his first semester, and then join the team in 2015.

I'm not the kind of guy who gets excited by every commitment, and am in general skeptical of 2 and 3 star types unless their profile gives me a reason to think they can be an asset. But in Pallante's case - I think he's going to be a good addition to the program. I think NT/DT is a spot where there is value in having some role-player types. He sounds like a high character tough kid, and that will rub off on teammates.

What interests me is how confused people are by the grey-shirt. It's just a way to buy yourself an extra scholarship-year as a program and buy some more time for marginal prospects to develop, if they need it. In many senses, they're just pre-determined red-shirts, whose parents have to pay tuition for all of one semester. While it is possible some kids will extend out to 6 years (grey-shirt, red-shirt, then 4 years) the kids Michigan is doing this with don't project that way (obviously, as they ended up with standard offers in the end.)

There is also confusion about which class they should 'count' in and to me it's obvious that they should be in the same class as their high school graduating class peers. NOT a year later.

If a kid is willing to do it, then it's a great benefit to the program. It's a red-shirt year without the cost of a scholarship (meaning it goes to another player.) So when I heard the news that he was no longer a grey-shirt, I was mildly disappointed. Good for him, bad for the program. BUT, it may be a long-term benefit to have examples of grey-shirts who got a full ride right away...maybe.